Wednesday Challenge SSS - October 3rd

Stencils!  I have to admit that while I have purchased a fair amount of stencils over the years - I honestly rarely use them!  So this week's Wednesday challenge was for sure going to push me out of my comfort zone a bit.

I needed a masculine birthday card for someone this week and so I used that as my starting point.  And because it is rapidly feeling and looking like fall all around me I felt drawn towards something with an autumn feel.  I picked out Tim Holtz Clear Stamps and Stencil NATURE'S WONDER from my supplies.  At first I thought I might use the stencils in the set but I ended up just using the stamps and instead decided on one of the shapes from the Tim Holtz Element Stencils Set - Everyday Art.  

I started by getting my sentiment stamped at the bottom of the tag and then stenciled one of the little rounded squares from the elements set onto a kraft tag using some olive ink.  Finally I stamped a leaf using StazOn Stone Grey ink.  I ended up making two tags as I wasn't thrilled with my first.  I finished the tags with eyelets from my stash. 

Then I couldn't really decide which I liked better - twine or seam binding.  In the end I used the tag with seam binding on my finished card.  The card base was one I had - it is a sort of muted champagne/dark olive color and I thought it paired nicely.   I mounted the tag using foam squares with a piece of rough burlap behind it.  I am pretty happy with the final card.